A bill to require voted levies to be expressed in dollars instead of mills passed a preliminary vote Wednesday in the Senate after approval in the House.
Sponsored by Rep. Larry Brewster, R-Billings, and carried by Sen. Greg Hertz, R-Polson, House Bill 20 aims to simplify information voters receive about levies they’ll consider.
Hertz said it means voters won’t end up paying more than what they bargained for.
Mills are a unit that express property tax rates, and they’re used to calculate tax bills, but they’re confusing, reports the Daily Montanan. One mill generates $1 for every $1,000 of taxable value.
In Montana, property values have been going up, so tax bills have generally been going up too.
“The values of those mills chases your property up, and your taxes increase dramatically, as fast as the value of your property increases,” Hertz said.
Sen. John Esp, R-Big Timber, said the bill would have protected homeowners in his district when they approved of a project worth 25 mills.
He said when Montana saw a large increase in values, the mill levy went up “considerably,” about 30%. The bill would mean if a mill levy was voted in for $100,000, it wouldn’t go up over time to, say, $135,000, he said.
“This is a good bill. It’s good government. It doesn’t cut anything,” Esp said.
But the bill drew significant opposition from representatives of local government in committee, and they argued they’d be the ones forced to cut if the bill becomes law.
They argued voters would approve projects or special personnel, but increases in inflation would mean local governments wouldn’t be able to afford the very items voters said they wanted even after a couple of years.
On the Senate floor Wednesday, Sen. Mary Ann Dunwell, D-Helena, reiterated some of the opposition — “dollars don’t equal dollars over time” because of inflation.
Dunwell also said she didn’t want to limit local government any more than necessary.
Hertz said local governments can still grow at half of the rate of inflation, plus collect taxes from new growth, and the bill will mean local government will “just grow steadily.”
The bill passed 35-15 with four Democrats joining Republicans in support, and one Republican, Sen. Sue Vinton, R-Billings, joining other Democrats against it.
